Monday, 4 August 2014

Terminate arms export licences to Isreal

Letter to Julian Brazier MP and press release below:

Dear Mr Brazier,

We are pleased that the UK is a significant donor of aid to Gaza but concerned to learn that the UK government has granted significant export licences to Israel, with £10m being granted in the past 12 months alone.

Given that Israel's aggression towards the Palestinians is so disproportionate to the attacks from Hamas, Canterbury Greens are calling on you with your new responsibilities for arms control to terminate immediately all export licences to Israel.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Stuart

--

Stuart Jeffery
Campaigns Manager for Canterbury Green Party

Press release:

Canterbury Greens have criticised Julian Brazier for hypocrisy on the UK's role in Israel's attacks on Gaza following the MP pointing out that the UK also supports Gaza. The Campaign Against Arms Trade has identified that the UK has agreed £10 million of arms exports to Israel over the past 10 months.

The Greens have sent a letter to the Canterbury MP, the Parliamentary-Under-Secretary of Defence and has responsibility for arms control, asking that the arms export licences are terminated immediately. Stuart Jeffery, Campaigns Manager for Canterbury Green Party, has called for a review of foreign policy to support peace efforts rather than war.

Stuart Jeffery, Campaigns Manager for Canterbury Green Party: "Our foreign policy is in tatters. While the government gives aid to one side, it then arms the other. The arming of aggressor nations has to stop.

"I have written to the Canterbury MP who is now in charge of arms control calling for an immediate revocation of all arms export licences following the deaths of over 1600 Gazans in the recent weeks.

"This is a deeply disproportionate conflict that the UK is complicit in supporting. Our foreign and defence policy must reflect a drive towards peace rather than driving up profits for arms companies. The UK should be supporting the peace effort not the war effort."